carlson



(1 H. CARLSON.

HAILWM 'HACK INSRUM'LNT,

Apfucmmn man HAY 4 ma,

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

v v l Il l GEORGE H. CARLSON,

GDUHM am SM 0 M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. CARLSON, 0F OMAHA, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR TO HOESCHEN HANUIAC. TURING COMPANY, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA. A CORPORATION OF NEBRASKA,

RAILWAY-TRACK INSTRUMENT.

Application led May 4, 1918.

To all who/nt 'it may concern Be it known that I, (inoRGE H. CARLSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway- Track Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to instruments employed in railway signaling for indicating the passage of a train over a particular portion of a railway track. It is the object of my invention to provide a simple, inexpensively constructed, durable and eilicient instrument of this class, utilizing for its operation the movement of a track-rail relative to the ties or sleepers on which it is laid but not dependent upon the maintenance of a precise range of movement of the rail, or upon definite limits to the extent of movement thereof relatively to the ties. further object of my invention is to provide an instrument of the foregoing character adapted to be effectively operated by a comparatively minute movement of the ra1l. A further object of my invention is to provide an instrument of this class which may be substantially weather-proof, so as to remain operative in all seasons and under the most adverse conditions.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of an instrument embodying my invention the Section being on line 1 1 of Fig. 2, Fig. 2 iS an end view with the cover of the housing removed. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section on the plane of the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detail horizontal section on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the illustrated structure I provide a casing or housing having a main portion 5 with laterally extending lugs 6 adapted to rest upon the upper sides of two adjacent ties or sleepers A of a railway track. The open front side of the housing is normally closed by a removable plate 7 which is secured to the main body of the housing by screws 8. From the rear side of the main housing 5 an integral tubular portion 9 extends horizontally, and at its rear end has a projecting hooked lug 10 adapted to engage and rest upon a portion of a T-bar 11 eX- tending between the ties A adjacent to a track-rail B laid upon said ties. Beneath the rail there is a vertical cylindrical por- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 232,665.

tion l2 formed integrally with the portiOn 9, the bores of said parts 9 and 12 intersecting as shown in Fig. 3. In the cylinder 12 there is slidably disposed a plunger 13, a. coil spring 1l being disposed beneath said plunger and pressing the same upwardly. At the lupper`end of the plunger the same has an integral stem l5 which extends slidably through a packing-gland 16 formed in a Screw-plug 17 employed for closing the upper end of the cylinder 12. The upper end of the stem l5 normally engages the lower side of the rail B and presses upwardly thereon` tending to hold the rail sllghtly above the surface of the ties A, so that when the rail is pressed down firmly upon the ties, as b v the passage of a train along the track, the plunger 13 will be moved downwardly in the cylinder 12, and will be moved upwardly again by the pressure of the spring 14 when the wheelressure upon the rail is removed. The si e of the plunger adjacent to the bore of the tubular housing-part 9 has formed thereon teeth constituting a rack 18 adapted to mesh with a pinion 19 secured on a shaft 20 which extends through the bore of the part 9. The Shaft 20 is journaled in bearing-sleeves 21 and 22 disposed respectively at the front and rear ends of the tubular housing-part 9. The bearing-Sleeve 21 is removable, held in place by a screw 23, and the outer portion of said sleeve is spindle-shaped, thereby enabling the same to rock within its support and assume a position of true axial alinement with the Shaft. The sleeve 22 is secured in the housing by means of a key 24 of which the rear end extends into a notch in a disk Q5 disposed at the endv of thesleeve. A screw-plug 26 closes the end of the housing-part 9 and holds the disk 25 against a shoulder at the end of the threaded portion of the bore.

Within the main housing 5, adjoining the end of the bearing-sleeve 21, a ratchetwheel 27 is secured to the shaft 20. Adjoining the front side of said ratchet-wheel a wheel 28 is mounted revolubly on the shaft. said wheel 28 being of greater diameter than the ratchet-wheel, and the peripheral portion or rim thereof serrated to form a series of V-shaped teeth 29. The wheel 28 is retained on the shaft by a washer 30 and Cotter-pin 31 arranged at the end of the shaft, as shown, and at the inner end of the bearing-sleeve 2l there is a washer 32 and pin 88 which prevent longitudinal movement of the shaft forwardly through the bearing-sleeve. Pawls 84 pivoted on the wheel 28 are pressed into engagement with the ratchet-wheel 27 by means ot' springs 85, whereby rotary movements of the ratchetwheel and shaft in one direction are communicated to the notched-wheel 28. ln the upper part of the main housing- Vthere is pivotally mounted an arm 8G having a tshaped end-portion 87 adapted to tit in the notches between the teeth 29 of the wheel 28. A spring 88 is arranged to aress said arm 86 toward the wheel, and the strength of said e spring is preferably. sutlicient to cause movement of the wheel, by engagement of the V-portion 87 ot the arm with the inclined sides oi? the teeth 29, should said portion 87 not be seated in one ot the notches between the teeth.

rit the rear Side of the mainr housing 5 there is a pin 89 on which is pivoted an arm 40 which extends approximately horizontally past the periphery of the notched wheel 28 and hasl a forwardly extending; lug 41 adapted to rest upon the upper side of one of the teeth 29, as shown in 2. fit the end of .the arm 40 there is a contactpiece 42, which may be insulated from the body of the arm, if desired. A block 48 of insulating' material is secured in the housing, above the contact 42, and on said block there is carried a pair of contact-springs 44 which extend downwardly therefrom into proximity to the Contact 42, so the latter may pass between and electrically connect them when the arm 40 is raised, as by rotation of the wheel 28 in the direction indime"hanism and forminga part of the circuit through said mechanism. Near the end of the arm 4G there is a weight 47 suilicient to canse the arm to move downwardly and disensrage ythe Contact 42 'from the springs 44 when the armis unsupported by the teeth 29 engaging' the lug- 41.

From the foregoing the operation of the instrument may be clearly understood. During' the passage ot a trainer even ot a single engine or car, along the rail lB, there will be a plurality ot movements ofthe rail .f relativelyito the ties B, the rail being pressed down onto the ties as each wheelV passes over the same, and having some upward movementrduring theintervals between ,the'pas- :sage'thereoverof the successive wheels. The y A. Imoyeifaents Qif the rail resultin vertical v ciprc'ica-tn'tgv4 movements 'of the plunger said plunger being` pushed downwardly by t ie i'aihand pushed upwardly by the spring 14. Said reciprocating movements ot the plunger are communicated by the rack 18 to the pinion '19, and result in rotational movements ot the sia'tt 20 in alternating` directions. rlie rotational movements ot the shaft and ratchet-wheel 27 in one direction are communicated through the pawls to the wheel 28, resulting; in intermittentrotational movement oi' said wheel in the direction indicated in Fig. During said rotation ot the wheel 28 the arm 40 is alternately lifted and dropped, by the engagement et the teeth 29 with the lug 4i and the passing oit saidteeth from beneath the lug. The contact-piece 42 is thusr alternately litted into engagement with the springs 44 to electrically connect the same, and then drops out of contact therewith to again open the circuit made therethrough. As the diameters o't' the ratchet-wheel and the wheel 28 are quite large proportionally to thate'lv the pinion 19, it will be seen that a very slight movement of the rail, relatiif'ely tothe ties and the instrument housing supported. thereon, will be suiiicient. to act-nate the notched wheel 28 and cause one or more movements or the pivoted arm 40, with a resulting closing and opening of the circuit in which is connectedthe switch device comprising the springs44 and contact-piece 42. lt will also be seen that the operation oit the instrument is not dependent upon the maintenance ot a precise relation of the instrument and the normal position of the rail, or upon a deiinite range of movement of the rail relatively to the ties, or upon particular limits to such relative movement, for the reason that the permissible range et movement ot the plunger 18 each way from the average or normal position thereof is much Ygreater than any probable variation in the relation of the housing and the rail. The instrument is especially desirable for use on a track over which trains pass at high speed. Under such conditions the movement of the rail is `very rapid, and with instruments in which the actuated parts have definite limitsl of movement, rapid operation thereof re- Y sults' in pounding and excessive wear and stiess'upon the mechanism, so that the durability oi" such an instrument is thereby greatly impaired. lVith my instrument,

however, rapid operation of the rail-engagin g plunger results in reciprocating or alternating movement of only the Vrelatively,light and easily moved pinion, shaft and ratchet wheel; while the cumulative eiiect of the several impulses upon thewheel 28 merely causes the same to spin orrevolve rapidly in a uniform direction. switch-arm 40 is impossible because the same actuated uenly by `gravity during its downwardniovements. Bythe'provis'in of the Gverspeeding of the v y spring-pressed arm 36, it is insured that when actuation of the Wheel 28 ceases said wheel will assume a position at which the Contact or switch-arm is in the lowered position thereof. The operating mechanism is so inelosed and protected by the housing that water or dirt cannot enter the same, and, as any probable variation in the normal relation of the rail and housing will not affect the operation of the instrument, it will be seen that the operativeness thereof cannot be impaired by rain, snow, ice or other conditions of Weather or seasonal changes.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat-- ent is l. A railway track-instrument comprising, in combination with a track-rail` a housing supported beneath the rail, a rail-engaging member slidably held in the housing, yielding means pressmg said member against the rail, a shaft journaled in the housing, a pinion and rack connecting said shaft with the rail-engaging member, and electrical circuit-controlling devices actuated by rotational movement of said shaft.

2. A railway track-instrument comprising, in combination with a track-rail, a housing supported beneath the rail, a. railengagin member slidably held in the housing, yie ding means pressing said member against the rail, a shaft journaled in the housing and geared to the IaiLengagin member, a wheel revolubly mounted on sai shaft, means for communicating .to said Wheel the movements of said shaft in one direction, and an electrical circuit-closing device actuated by said Wheel.

3. A railway track-instrument comprising a housing, a reciprocable rail-engaging member slidable in said housing and adapted for movements of considerable extent relatively thereto, yielding means for pressing said member toward a track-rail, a rocking shaft actuatable by said rail-engaging member, a Wheel ratchet-connected with sai shaft and actuatable by rotation thereof in one direction, a yieldable detent for stopping said wheel in fixed normal ositions, and a switch-member actuatable y movement of said wheel from said normal positions.

GEORGE H. CARLSON. 

